Can You Keep a Secret?
by backstagespotlight
Summary: AU. Each CSI can see the clues, but can they put them all together? I don't own CSI
1. Prologue

-1Sara Sidle pulled up to the taped off intersection and parked. She climbed out of the SUV and walked around to the back of the car to get her kit.

"What have we got, Brass?" she asked, calling across the scene.

"Drive-by and car accident. Two dead, one true eyewitness and a pack of ear witnesses," he replied. Sara nodded and moved to assist Catherine beside the car.

"What did the witness have to say?" Sara asked.

"She wouldn't say anything. She's a very scared little girl who just lost her mother," Catherine explained, pointing out the child where she stood with a uniformed officer. As Sara watched, the little girl reached up and tugged her ear. Sara furrowed her brow.

"You mind if I ask her?" Catherine shrugged.

"Be my guest."

Sara moved over and crouched in front of the girl. She raised her fingers in a sort of salute. The girl, turned, smiled broadly and imitated her. Sara's hands skillfully began communicating for her.

"_What's your name, sweetie?"_

_"Stacey." _

_"That's a nice name. I'm Sara. How old are you?"_

_"Nine," _ Sara smiled reassuringly at Stacey. Catherine glanced up and, seeing them stopped her work to observe. She was surprised at the ease and practice which Sara's motions demonstrated.

"Sara, you're in charge of her until DCFS comes to get her," Catherine called out. Sara nodded, then turned back to Stacey.

_"Stacey, let's go for a car ride and I'll show you where I work, 'kay?" _Stacey nodded solemnly, grabbing Sara's hand and holding tight. They walked to the car and Sara bundled Stacey into the backseat.

_"Do you want to stop for some ice cream?"_ Sara signed. Stacey smiled and nodded. Then she made an interesting observation.

_"You would make a good mommy." _Sara laughed.

_"Can you keep a secret?"_ she smiled.


	2. The Clues

* * *

"Sara, language!" Gil Grissom scolded. His dark-haired CSI dropped her hands to her sides.

"Uh, Boss," her current partner, Nick, spoke up, "She's not even talking." Grissom and Sara exchanged a look.

"It was a note I wrote to him after I talked with Ecklie this morning." Nick accepted this explanation and nodded.

"Sara!" Catherine called, "Police think they found our guys! Let's go!" Sara walked out of the room, pausing to snipe Grissom with some comment Nick couldn't understand. Grissom sighed, smiled, then left the room. Nick just shook his head in amusement.

Sara sat in the break room, on the couch, nursing a cup of coffee and thinking about Stacey. She looked up in time to see Grissom rush past the door.

* * *

"Language, Gil!" Sara called after him. He froze for a second, looked back, smiled sheepishly, then hurried on his way. Catherine Willows entered moments later.

"You know he wasn't saying anything, right?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Sara shrugged, "but he had that look on his face that he was about to chew Ecklie out and he asked me last week to help him keep his

tongue in check." Catherine nodded warily.

* * *

Greg Sanders proudly presented Grissom with a file folder. He had passed his CSI level three exams. He began to ramble on about how he had tracked down the criminal through a paper cut and partial fingerprint. Suddenly Grissom focused on something over the younger man's shoulder. One of his eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me, Greg. It seems my DB has woken up." Greg turned around to see Sara standing in the doorway. She hadn't uttered a word. He looked between the elder CSI's as Grissom crossed over to the doorway and left the room.

* * *

Catherine, Sara, Warrick and Grissom sat in the layout room.

"Dr. Grissom," came a small voice from the doorway. "There's a Megan Peters on line 3 for you. She says it's urgent." Grissom immediately jumped to the phone. He cradled it between his shoulder and ear and began to fidget nervously. His face broke into a huge smile. Sara, who had been watching him closely, also smiled and Catherine could have sworn there were tears in her eyes.

"Excuse me," Sara whispered, slipping out of the room. Grissom finished his conversation, hung up the phone and followed her. Warrick and Catherine stared at each other for a moment, shrugged and waited. Sara and Grissom returned a moment later. Neither offered any explanation, they simply sat down and resumed their work.

* * *

Alarm bells sounded as soon as Sara and Catherine pried open the lid to the box. They acted out of instinct, running for the decontamination shower. They stood back to back under the scalding flow and began to strip their clothes off. After five minutes the flow stopped and the two women tore open plastic wrapped towels.

As they headed down toward the locker room, Sara suddenly paled. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, but Catherine noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure I remembered to put a clean pair of pants in my locker. You know my other pair ripped last week." Catherine did remember. The pants had been a tad bit tighter than usual and had split when Sara crouched down to examine a body.

"I have a pair of sweats you can borrow," Catherine offered. Sara gladly accepted. She had just pulled them on when Grissom knocked on the door to the room.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sara answered for both of them.

"We still need to have you checked out, protocol," he commented. Both agreed and he led them to the parking lot.

As the more senior of the two, Catherine automatically took the passenger seat, leaving the back to Sara. But throughout the drive she noticed Gil's frequent worried glances in the rear view mirror.

When they arrived at the urgent care facility, Gil walked close to Sara, and Catherine even thought she noticed his hand brushing Sara's back once or twice.

They filled out the necessary paperwork and took a seat. It wasn't thirty seconds before Sara's name was called and she was whisked off to an exam room. Catherine waited another twenty minutes before she was called. At this point she was too exhausted to flirt with the cute ER doctor. All she wanted was a clean bill of health and a long nap.

All in all the exam took about five minutes, a fact which confused Catherine. Even more confusing was the fact that, after meeting up with Grissom again, Sara still wasn't finished. The brunette appeared five minutes after Catherine sat back down.

"Well," she said, sighing contentedly, "I can see that both of us are fine."

Grissom smiled nodded and led the way to the car. Catherine lagged behind a few steps to talk to Sara.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I had a few tests run for another condition that I have. Routine stuff I figured I'd have done while we were here." Catherine accepted this and thought no more of it.

* * *

"Sabbatical, again?" Nick asked, incredulous, "both of you?"

Grissom nodded solemnly. "Harvard has asked me to come and teach a semester course on basic forensics. I'm taking Sara as my teacher's aide."

Two months into Grissom and Sara's four month absence, Catherine caught Brass studying an email. Attached was a birth announcement photo. In it, the newborn baby girl lay propped up on a pillow, on the grass. Behind her on either side was another child, each laying on his or her stomach. On the left was a brown haired girl, about four years old, gazing lovingly at the baby. On the right, a little boy with chocolate colored curls smiled up at the camera mischievously, life shining through his sparkling blue eyes. Catherine studied the e-mail address _GSR529_. It looked more like a license plate than an email.

"Who're the kids?"

"A close friend's," Brass answered, "Sy, Mattie and their new baby sister, Caitlyn Nicole."

"They're adorable," Catherine mused. Then her attention turned to the file in her hands, "Oh, we got the guy."

* * *

_AN: Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that this happens a little way in the future? Next chapter starts the discoveries... Who will be first?_

_Please leave a review with your guess!_


	3. The First

_AN: So I actually have this totally finished, but I'm going to feed it to you a little piece at a time to keep the suspense high. Thanks to_ _charming-kayleigh for the idea for who finds out first._

_ENJOY... _

* * *

Warrick Brown needed a break after his case, so he headed down to volunteer at 'The Hole,' a rec center near his old neighborhood which ran mentor programs every day for under-privileged, at-risk kids. He walked in the door and a look of relief filled the young director's face.

"Mr. Brown! I'm so glad to see you!" she exclaimed, "One of our mentors just canceled on us, and it's our day in the park. Can you drive for us?"

"Certainly."

"Great! You'll be working today with Tristina, Teisha and Camrick." She indicated the three children lined up against the wall. Warrick waved them over. He knelt down and looked them in the eyes.

"Hey guy, my name is Warrick. What do you say we hang out for a while?" Three heads nodded back at him.

The group piled into three cars and drove half an hour to a nice big city park in a better part of town. They stopped at a nice playground, bustling with young children. The kids ran off to play and Warrick settled in on a bench to watch. He took in the fact that six year-old Tristina headed for a group of girls jumping rope. Teisha crossed over to the jungle gym, beneath which a little brunette sat, digging in the dirt. Camrick, the youngest of the three joined another boy about his age in the sandbox. After ten minutes, Warrick saw Camrick begin to get agitated. He suddenly kicked sand into the boys face and stormed off.

"Hey, hey, hey," Warrick called, running after him, "What was that all about?"

"He wouldn't give me his truck to play with. He's not nice. He won't talk to me," Camrick said, angry. Warrick stopped the boy and knelt down beside him, looking him straight in the eye.

"That is no excuse for violence. You can't kick sand at people because you don't like them," he said, "Now, we're going over there and you are going to say that you are sorry, got it?" Camrick was reluctant, but eventually agreed. Warrick scanned the park and saw the little boy wrapped in his mother's arms, presumably crying. He led Camrick over to the bench where they sat.

"Camrick has something to say to your son," he told the mother. She nodded and turned the boy around on her lap.

"I'm sorry," Camrick said, head facing down. To Warrick's surprise, the little boy turned to his mother, who looked down at the boy and translated Camrick's apology into sign language. It was Warrick's first opportunity to really look at the mother. He was taken aback to recognize Sara Sidle.

"He forgives you," she said. She shifted the boy off of her lap and leaned over to look Camrick in the eye.

"Mattie can't hear anything. He had a sickness that made bone grow in his ear where it is not supposed to. He'd like to play with you, but he can't talk to you. If you want something you'll have to point at it and do this," Sara demonstrated a sign. Camrick nodded.

"Okay," he agreed, He held out a hand to Mattie and led him back to the sandbox.

"Well, now, Sara Sidle, what are you doing back in Vegas?" he asked.

"I," she responded, "am enjoying one last bit of sunshine before becoming a night dweller again." Just then, the infant in the stroller at the end of the bench, an infant he hadn't noticed earlier, began to fuss and cry. Sara turned to the child and lifted her gently from the stroller, cradling the tiny girl in her arms.

"Good morning, Ladybug," she crooned, "Did you sleep well?"

Warrick studied the little girl closely. "Ladybug" was about two months old, with a thatch of dark brown hair, and piercing blue eyes, the combination of which would make her a heartbreaker as a teen. Sara handled her with an ease and familiarity which left no doubt in his mind that Sara was anything but the girl's mother.

"Warrick, I know you can keep a secret," Sara said, shooting him a sly smile.


	4. The Second

_AN- Here's the next part. So you know, the main plot of this story is the team discovering GSR, none of the cases get solved. Several of you have asked about Sydle. That is all explained when Catherine finds out_, _but I'm not going to tell you when that is..._

* * *

Nick and Sara walked into the Nevada Institute for the Hearing Impaired. As they walked across the courtyard, Nick Stokes explained why they were at the Institute.

"Our vic was learning sign language so that she could talk to her nephew. The last place anyone saw her alive was here at her eight P.M. class."

"Okay," Sara said. Nick turned a circle when they reached the center of the courtyard, but Sara just kept walking.

"Are you sure that's the right way?" he called after her.

"Yes," was the only answer she gave. Nick shrugged and followed her.

Suddenly a woman approached Sara and began signing rapidly to her. Nick looked to Sara, expecting her to be flustered, but was shocked when she simply began signing back. After a few minutes' conversation Sara began to look concerned.

"Nick, you go on ahead. I have a, uh, phone call to make." She turned around and started toward another door.

"Wait, Sara!" Nick called after her, jogging to catch up, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. I just have a phone call to make, that's all." She grabbed the door handle and threw the door open. Nick followed her and was stunned to see a day care style facility. The kids looked up from their art projects. One little girl squealed with delight and prodded the boy next to her, breaking his intense concentration.

"Mommy!" the little girl called out, dropping her paintbrush and running for Sara's arms. The little boy stayed silent, but wasn't far behind her. Sara crouched down and gathered the kids into her arms.

"Hey, Bugs! How are you two doing?" she asked. She pulled back and signed the question to the little boy.

"We're still here past snack time," the girl observed, her hands flying almost faster than her mouth.

"I know that, Butterfly," Sara said. She then pulled the girl close and whispered something in her ear that Nick couldn't understand. The girl nodded solemnly at Sara. Sara ruffled the boy's hair, then lifted them up on her hip before pulling out her cell phone and placing a call.

"Good morning, sunshine," she said, "Did you fall asleep? I figured as much. Just come as soon as you can. You have the carseats and I'm here on a case. Ten minutes. Stop by and see me in Marina's office before you leave, I have a feeling that one or the other won't want to go back to class. They both seem clingy to me. Sydle wants to talk to you," Sara handed the phone down, "There you go, Butterfly."

"Hi, Daddy," the little girl began, and she chattered for a while, giving Sara and Nick a chance to talk.

"Nick, meet Sydle and Matthias. Sy, Mattie, your new Uncle Nick."

"Wow," Nick said, "This is a bit of a shock." Sydle handed the phone back up to Sara, who put it to her ear.

"Ten minutes? We'll see you then. I love you too." Sara turned back to Nick.

"We have a meeting to get to," she said, her tone one-hundred percent CSI. Nick just stuttered. Sara turned back to her kids and offered them the choice of staying or of going with her and sitting in the outside office. Sydle chose to finish her art project, but Matthias opted to stay with Sara.

Sara and Nick crossed the courtyard and entered the office. The receptionist greeted them with a wary eye until Sara explained that they were there on official business, at which point the receptionist, clearly a family friend, volunteered to watch little Mattie. Sara and Mattie agreed to the plan, so she set him on the edge of the desk. She led the way through an open door into another office, closing the door behind Nick.

"Good afternoon, Marina. This is my colleague, Nick Stokes. We had a few questions about Shasta Greene." Sara spoke and signed simultaneously. The director of the institute smiled warmly and motioned for them to take a seat.

"We were all devastated by her loss. She was a sweet girl. She'd even started helping us out on a part-time basis. Sara, does Sydle know about Shasta's death?"

"We haven't talked about it. Why do you ask?"

"Shasta had been working with Sydle and Matthias' daycare group. Since Sydle was the only child who could hear, she and Shasta were pretty close, from what her teachers say."

"Now that you mention it, she has been talking about Shasta a lot, but there's a girl her age in the program with the same name, we assumed that's who she was talking about. Wow."

Nick took over the conversation at this point.

"Ms. Ferras, was anyone upset with Shasta that you know of?"

"Not badly enough to hurt her. Some of the young men in our continuing education program might be frustrated because she turned them down for dinner, but no one truly angry."

The lights in the office flickered three times.

"Come on in," the director called. The door cracked opened and Gil Grissom peeked in. If Nick had been confused before, he was flat out flabbergasted by the sight before him. The CSI supervisor was dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, and was carrying a young baby in an infant carrier strapped to his chest. Sara's son Mattie clung to his leg and her daughter was standing behind him.

"Glad to see you found us. I'll be working this case for a while, I'll try to be home for lunch. Come here, Bugs," she said, opening her arms. Sydle and Mattie came over. Sara took Sydle's face in her hands and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Behave, Butterfly, and don't let Daddy forget your ballet class." Sara said goodbye to Matthias as well, calling him Dragonfly and reminding him to be good. Grissom led his children from the office. Sara had only one more comment before sliding back into CSI mode.

"Nicky, you can keep this secret, right?"

* * *

_AN- Sydle is at daycare at the Institute so she learns sign language and because it's easier for all the Grissoms. Mattie suffers from the same genetic condition Grissom had, but a much more aggressive form._


	5. The Third

_AN: Sorry this has taken so long, I've just been really un-motivated and easily distracted lately... To make up for it, I'll post the rest of it right now. Here's Catherine's part, I wanted to make her last, but for all practical purposes, this worked out better... you'll see what I mean when you read the ending..._

_ENJOY_

* * *

"Where are you off to Lindsey?" Catherine asked as her teenaged daughter headed out the door, car keys in hand.

"Tonight's the night I nanny. We talked about this last week. Once a week from now on indefinitely, I'm going to be a night nanny for three kids. I'll be home in the morning. You agreed to it." Catherine did vaguely remember being assaulted with the idea one morning after a particularly tough shift.

"I'm coming with you," she stated, "Non-negotiable." Lindsey shrugged.

"Okay, whatever."

Catherine drove her own car so Lindsey could get home in the morning. They pulled into a nice neighborhood, one of the few she couldn't remember ever processing a scene in. Lindsey stopped in front of a nice, two-story brick house. She pulled her car into the driveway and Catherine parked on the street. They walked to the door then stood Catherine behind Lindsey, on the doorstep, waiting to be let in. Catherine studied the welcome mat. It was green colored straw with a red and black ladybug at its center. The door opened and Catherine did a double take. There, in the doorway, with a baby on his shoulder, stood Gil Grissom. He looked equally surprised to see her, but he ushered them into the living room.

"Lindsey, Sy and Mattie are upstairs with their mom. I think she has a few last minute instructions." Lindsey nodded and headed up the stairs.

"Grissom," Catherine started, "I don't even know what to think. Three kids and you don't even bother to mention it?"

"Catherine I-" Grissom started.

"Don't even start with me, Grissom. I don't care what your twisted logic was, I don't care if they all have different mothers or if you're not sure they're yours or if they're purple. Our team has always been closer than any other, and I thought we had an understanding. No secrets. But no, you have three kids you've been keeping secret from us. Anything else you would like to tell me? Something like, you have a third head growing or you're slowly becoming a woman due to overexposure to formaldehyde?" Catherine knew she was getting ridiculous, but she was too upset to care. She saw Lindsey come down the stairs, followed by another woman.

"Gil, baby, we have to go, we're going to be late for work." The other woman approached and Catherine simply shook her head, stunned.

"You and Sara?" she asked, dumbfounded, "How long?"

"We dated for a year before we married. We'll celebrate our fifth anniversary next month."

"And the kids?" she asked.

"Sydle Rose is actually Sara's niece. Her parents died almost five years ago when she was four months old. Matthias Gilbert is two and a half, he was born during the leave Sara took to work on her doctorate, and this little Caitlyn Nicole is four months old tomorrow."

"Caitlyn for you and Lindsey and Nicole because it was Nick's abduction was the catalyst for our relationship," Sara explained. Catherine reached out for the girl, who Grissom gently passed over. Sara watched Catherine cradle her daughter.

"Cath, about the kids," she said

"Let me guess. Our little secret?"

* * *

_AN: I hope their little explanation clears things up concerning the pregnancies. This is set sometime in the future of the show, with the idea that Grissom never blurted out that little line about their relationship in Living Doll... _


	6. The Last

_AN: This is it, my first completed fanfic!! I hope you enjoy the humor in this little number._

* * *

There was only one CSI on graveyard who didn't know about the Grissom kids, and each of those who did know thought they were the only one. Sara slept peacefully, snuggled in Grissom's arms in a hotel room. Catherine had insisted that the two take their anniversary night off and let Lindsey take the kids for the night. An old contact of hers had gotten them a nice room at one of Vegas' finer hotels. Both husband and wife were relishing the break from their responsibilities. They were jolted from their rest by the shrill ringing of a cell phone. Gil rolled over and grabbed the phone.

"Grissom," he said groggily.

"Sorry to wake you, but we've got a body here which calls for your expertise."

"Jim! Not tonight. It's my night off," Grissom complained, running his fingers through Sara's hair. She smiled idly up at him and snuggled closer, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I understand that, Gil, but we're kinda swamped," Jim pleaded. Sara reached for the phone.

"Jim, I want to spend one night alone with Gil without bugs or blood or dead bodies, 'kay?" She snapped the phone shut, then kissed Gil. He kissed her back and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into a gentle hug. She began planting little kisses along is neck. The phone rang again and both were tempted to ignore it.

"He'll just keep calling, Honey," Gil whispered between kisses. He took the phone from her hand and answered it.

"Brass, I really don't want to come in," he said.

"I understand, Gil, but we really, really need you to." Grissom groaned.

"Where?" he asked. Sara hit him gently on the chest. He looked down at her apologetically.

"Thirty miles east of Vegas out in the desert. Body with bugs, lots of them. Bring Sara," he added with a chuckle.

"A couple of hours and we'll be right back here, I promise," Grissom whispered between kisses. Sara rolled her eyes and kissed him again, rolled out of his arms and off the bed, reaching for her work jeans. Grissom got dressed as well, and soon they were on their way to their crime scene.

* * *

Three hours later, Sara and Gil drove up to the hotel ready to sleep. Gil wrapped his arm around Sara's waist and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Then they saw the extraordinary amount of police cars and pulled apart. The police department was a tight knit community and both criminalists were well known. Sara was the first to spot the Denali.

"Griss," she whispered, pointing to the SUV. He sighed as well.

"Shall we just turn around and head home?" he asked. Sara wanted to say yes, but she knew that anything they had seen that night would be considered relevant.

"Let's see who Cath assigned," she said logically. As if she had been summoned by Sara's words, Catherine Willows walked through the front doors at that very moment.

"Sara, Grissom, I left the lab strict instructions not to call you in tonight," she said.

"I know, but Brass called. We just finished an evidence collection for him and were planning on going back to our room."

"Well, if it was on the sixth floor I can't let you. Double homicide in 622." Gil and Sara exchanged a look.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"The secret will soon be out."

* * *

Greg Sanders grabbed the DNA report off of the lab laser printer. He took one look at it and paled.

"Wendy, please tell me this is a joke or that the system has gone wacko," he said. She gave him a withering look.

"I wouldn't joke on a night like tonight and this system doesn't go wacko," she snapped defensively.

"Then I guess the world has gone wacko," he said. He practically ran to the layout room, where he found Catherine Nick and Warrick hard at work.

"DNA is in and the world continues to get weirder and weirder,

"Spit it out already, Greggo!" Nick said.

"Four distinct donors on the bed, two male, two female. Number three is the vic and four is the unknown male."

"You skipped a couple," Warrick noticed.

"One and two are Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle." Greg's statement received no reaction except for three half smiles and a couple raised eyebrows.

"What are you guys not telling me?" Greg asked.

"Secret," all three answered at once.

"Wait," Catherine said, "You two know?"

"If you're referring to _the Bugs _then, yeah, I've known for almost three months," Nick said.

"I've known for over three," Warrick boasted.

"Man, I've only known for a month," Catherine admitted. Greg waved his arms.

"I still don't know," he whined. His three coworkers exchanged glances. Catherine shrugged her shoulders, then smiled deviously.

"Well, now we know who was supposed to be in that room. Have fun at the interview," Catherine said, scribbling the address on a piece of paper.

* * *

Greg Sanders thought he was seeing an angel when the door opened. She was tall and willowy, with long sandy colored hair and deep brown eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked, studying him warily, breaking his reverie.

"Sara Sidle…" he stuttered, "with the crime lab." He took a deep breath.

"I'm Greg Sanders with the Las Vegas crime lab. I need to speak with Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle." The blonde flicked her hair and giggled.

"They aren't here. Mom told them to crash at our place. You can't exactly celebrate your anniversary with these bugs in the house. Sure, Mattie sleeps through anything, but those two girls have ears like bats and it's like they sleep with their eyes open. I can barely watch a movie without Sydle crawling onto my lap. Imagine trying to-"

Greg shuddered. "At this point, I'm actually trying not to. I'll need your address and, if you're willing, maybe a phone number?" The girl laughed. She grabbed Greg's notepad and wrote down the address, the grabbed his hand. She wrote on his palm, hiding it from view, smiled at him then closed the door.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. He looked down at his hand. _Look it up under C. Willows. _Suddenly his face fell. He had just hit on his supervisor's daughter. Her _teenage _daughter. Tonight was not his night.

* * *

Greg drove to the house. The rest of the night crew, including Gil and Sara, stood waiting for him. They explained the situation and passed around photos of the three Grissom kids, affectionately code named "the Bugs."

"So," Greg said, studying a picture of Sy and Mattie covered head to toe in mud, " guess you could call them Nightshift's 'Dirty Little Secret'."

* * *

_AN: So, there it is... Please tell me what you think, and if you have anymore questions, message me, I'll try to answer them._

_THANKS FOR READING!! CATE _


End file.
